As an avid reader, I realized in recent years that I wanted to write a book myself. If I were writing my first book, what would the subject be? I had no idea what the subject matter would be. Shortly after my exit from the corporate world, I found the answer to that question. I took a two-month, 12,000-mile train journey all over the United States and that became the answer (link).

As I was began the plans for writing my first book, I gathered what knowledge I could find through blogs and podcasts.  I knew no one who had written a book completely by themselves without colleagues or a support staff.  I was going it alone. If you are considering writing a book, I hope this helps you in writing your first book. In hindsight, if I had known these handful of things I am about to share, it would have made a meaningful difference.

The “Why”

Before you start, decide the “why” for writing the book. Are you doing it as a personal accomplishment with little or no concern for sales?  Are you writing this book with aspirations to have it be a big seller on some level? If it is the latter, it will affect the level of help you engage in writing this book.  Are you going to hire an editor, someone to do the typesetting. Do you want help with illustrations, design a book cover or do the physical publishing of the book?

I did it for personal accomplishment.  Although I did hire an online editor, I did everything else myself.  That included preparing the document into its final form; what I call typesetting.  I designed the cover.  I loaded the files onto the Amazon self-publishing tool. Trust me, getting a book that is several hundred pages long to paginate correctly with illustrations and photos is no easy task. Have you ever noticed in a published book that the first page of every chapter in a book is on the same side of the open book – left page or right page throughout the book.  Never back and forth.

Just Start Writing

Once you answer the why, just start writing.  Pick up some blank sheets of paper and some pens and just start writing.

Do Not Edit During the Writing Phase

In preparing to write the book, I learned that there are two phases to writing a book – writing and editing. Writing is what I referred to in the prior step. Editing comes later. Do not edit in the writing phase. Just let it flow out on the page and keep going.

Write Long-hand on Paper

If you are going to separate writing from editing, which you should do, it helps to write longhand with paper and a pen.  If you are typing during writing, you will be tempted to edit.  It is almost impossible to resist. Periodically, I would stop and type in what I had written so. That way I did not have all that typing to do at the end.  But I did the writing, hundreds of pages, longhand.

Assistance with the Book

Depending on the “why”, you may want help on the book – editing, typesetting, book design, publishing mechanics. There are online outsourcing services that can help through all aspects of the process.  It is just about what you are willing to pay another person to do.

Do Not Wait to get Started

If you are like me, you will want to understand the full process down to getting an ISBN.  You do not need to do this.  You can learn it when you get to each point.  There are countless online sources to help with this. The hard part is writing the book.  The mechanics of publishing can be learned on a YouTube video. It is not that difficult.

So, if you have ever wanted to write a book, do it.  I am already planning my next one.  I just need to find a subject.

(”Can Travel Restore My Faith In My Country” is available on Amazon.)